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If Parks goes down to D-II or D-III he plays right away for his 2 years, if he goes to another D-I school he sits one and plays one and if he stays I still don't see him getting a whole lot of PT despite our urgent need. It was stated here before that Garcia is happy, so I doubt he'd pick up and leave for yet another school and only be there one year but you never know. McKee seemed to take his demotion and decreased PT exceptionally well this year, being one of the bigger cheerleaders when not in the game, but maybe he sees the writing on the wall with his PT and us recruiting yet another guard.

DavidCarducci Wrote:

mussel-man77 Wrote:Does anybody know if we've signed this Thomas Kennedy from Mott CC
officially yet ? (same CC as Jay Youngblood)
I keep seeing his name associated with Kent, but can't find anything
that says he's committed.
Dave C, if you're out there, maybe you can fill us in.

Sorry, didn't see this question til now.
I've been really sick since returning from Omaha ... I think the bout with pneumonia a month or two back (and not taking a day off while fighting that off) must have destroyed my immune system. Never been so sick, so often in one winter.

Anyway, I know Kennedy is still very much in the mix.
JUCOs traditionally sign late, so no he hasn't signed yet.

I also know of several other JUCO bigs KSU is looking at.
Geno Ford left Omaha and drove straight to the junior-college national tourney to look at a few more kids, so they are working on it.

I don't know who is staying and who is not from the current team, but there's a chance at least one kid could look for another school and more playing time. If that happens, it frees at least one more scholarship and another opportunity to bring in a big. Kennedy and a 6-8 or 6-9 JUCO center along with Moss would make for a pretty good recruiting class, maintaining Kent State's position as a team to beat next year in the MAC.

Omaha made me sick and I wasn't even there. :ncaabbs: Get well Dave!

Polish Hammer is right, but NAIA, either D-I or D-II, is a more likely scenario, as NCAA D-III doesn't give athletic scholarships, per se, and there aren't all that many NCAA D-II schools. I would think it likely that Garcia would leave for a smaller program. As for McKee or Parks, I really would have no idea what they may be thinking. But Garcia has to know that Kent isn't a fit for him, so unless he is in love with Kent as a student, I'd color him gone.

In addition, let us not forget that athletic scholarships are renewable annually. I have no idea, though, if Kent State's, or Christian's, policy is to not renew a scholarship for any reason other than violation of team rules or poor academic performance.

Listening to Brandon's dad at the Thanksgiving tournament, I doubt Brandon would have returned after Christmas break if it were up to him. Can't see BP transfering to ta DI school to sit out a year to play, but could see him going to a lower level to play right away.[/align]

Kent 76 Wrote:In addition, let us not forget that athletic scholarships are renewable annually. I have no idea, though, if Kent State's, or Christian's, policy is to not renew a scholarship for any reason other than violation of team rules or poor academic performance.

Yes, but for as much of a need we have right now and are handcuffed by the scholarship crunch, and I know many of you probably won't agree with me, but I would not like to see them risk the integrity of the program by dumping a kid his senior year all because they screwed up and now need that scholarship especially if he's not a bad student, breaking team rules or having run-ins with the cops. If he is doing what is asked of a student and teammate but just isn't good enough then that is on them and their scouting deficiencies; to bring a 5-year project in is one thing, to bring a project in for 2 years is was their mistake.

Funny thing on big men is Duke has a 7'1" that doesn't play much and have only 6'8" or smaller players with no big recruit coming in either, and they got killed on the boards this year when it counted, so even the lack of quality big men effects big programs at times too.

Dave, thanks for the updates on the recruits. I hope you're feeling better soon!

Agree, Polish Hammer. I was just stating a fact. I didn't intend to imply that Kent should not renew his scholarship. That sort of thing is done, but most programs consider it unethical. What is more common is for a coach to sit the player down, explain that he probably will never get any meaningful playing time, but that if he wants to stay the scholarship will be honored and he will be treated fairly. The coach typically offers to use his contacts to find a good fit for the player if the player wants to go elsewhere.

Funny thing about Parks. After the UT game at the MAC tourney, I was watching the team as it left the locker room and returned to the seats. The Parks family appears to be very much a part of the KSU b-ball family. Every player came up and hugged Mrs. Parks and shook Mr. Parks hand and had a conversation with them. Mrs. Parks seems to be like the team mom to me. It seems that the team loves him and the family feels the same way. Not sure what it means, but he's very much part of the team.